Nantes v OM fallout as Waldemar Kita feud leaves Marseille chiefs out of presidential stand | OneFootball

Marseille’s troubles stretched from the pitch to the directors’ box in the 0-3 loss at Nantes, as their executives shunned the presidential stand amid ongoing friction with Waldemar Kita.

According to L'Équipe, interim president Alban Juster, director of football Medhi Benatia and general secretary Benjamin Arnaud discovered their allotted seats had been rearranged, leaving Benatia separated from his colleagues, contrary to the custom that visiting officials sit together. The move was viewed as retaliation by the Nantes president.

Hostility has simmered for seasons and peaked in February 2025 after Pablo Longoria’s tirade at Auxerre. Kita was fiercely critical, saying Longoria should not have been shouting about corruption or disparaging the league.

That public rebuke did not sit well with Longoria and Benatia, who blanked Kita when Nantes visited Marseille the following week. Kita later accused Benatia of trying to step on his feet, and Marseille’s pursuit of Matthis Abline that summer further irritated Nantes.

When Nantes returned to the Vélodrome on 4 January, more than six months later, the game finished 0-2 and there was still no thaw despite Kita sitting with his son Franck and using the presidential lounge. He told his counterparts they would be poorly received next time. Longoria has since left, but when Marseille asked on Saturday to sit together as protocol dictates, Kita reportedly asked Benatia to apologise.

Juster tried to mediate without success, and the Marseille trio left the presidential area for an upper box where they were seen standing. Relations remain icy even though the 2019 Valentin Rongier transfer dispute was settled last autumn by the LFP legal commission, bringing €1.5m in bonuses to Nantes. There was no contact between the parties after the match.

Source: L'Équipe